Yesterday On Repeat
by ToujoursMiraculous
Summary: When Ladybug and Chat Noir's time is brought to an end, much to Viperion's horror, he blames himself for their deaths. What he doesn't know is that his Miraculous contains a secret that can help him undo what's been done, and save his friends lives. Luka's attempts to save them lead him to something unexpected.


Ladybug panted heavily, leaning forward with her hands resting on her thighs as she struggled to catch her breath. Her hair was a mess, one of her hair ties broke mid-fight, and the other was slipping, loosening the pigtail that remained. She yanked the remaining red tie from her hair, letting her raven locks fall to her shoulders.

"Chat? We're going to need help. More than just the usual gang this time. It's too dangerous to fight on our own, and I most certainly will not let you fight while I'm gone. Go find a place to hide and rest until I return with help, okay?"

Chat Noir was standing next to her, also panting. He had gotten hit considerably hard in the ribcage and it ached. A lot. "Do what you have to do, m'lady, but please - hurry," he winced as he straightened up.  
Ladybug nodded once. As she turned to leave, he reached out and grabbed her arm gently, stopping her. She spun around looking puzzled.

"Be careful," he breathed. He moved his hand from her arm up to her face, caressing it. Ladybug rested her hand over his and closed her eyes. "You're the one that needs to be careful, I'm the one leaving you alone," her voice shook lightly. "Don't try anything, Kitty, promise me you won't."

He didn't reply.

"Chat Noir!"

"I can promise that I won't try to fight him on my own. But I can't promise that I won't protect you if he ignores me and goes after you. You know me better than that."

"But you're hurt -"

"I can fight while I'm hurt," he cut her off. "You're most important. Nothing can happen to you, or we're all doomed. And if something happened to you because I sat by and did nothing… I wouldn't be able to live with myself. That's all I can promise you, Ladybug."

She tried to weigh her options.  
One, if she got Chat to come with her, the akuma would certainly follow them and lead him to Master Fu. That was definitely out. The second option was going together as their civilian selves. But that was dangerous, too. Master Fu would be safe in the short term, but if the akuma got it out of them that they knew each other, or caught them without any means to defend themselves…. No, no, that was definitely not an option either. Option number three was what she was already going with. Having him hide and her going to get help. The only unknown variable was how Chat Noir would handle it. His willingness to protect her at whatever cost, his impulsiveness… all she could do was hope for the best, but she was terrified to leave him there alone.

She brought their hands down from her face and lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him tight. He heard her raspy breathing in his ear and felt her shaking slightly in his arms. Then she let go and looked up into his eyes, giving him one last plea to be careful. He saw her bottom lip tremble and her eyes begin to gleam, but before he could say another word, she had forced her yo-yo across the street and was out of sight.

Just as he suspected, the Akuma tried to follow her.

Just a simple distraction, enough so she could get away without being trailed. Just enough so she can get away safely. Then he'd hide.

Chat Noir let his determination and adrenaline fill him up as he leapt off of the building, shouting to get the akuma's attention.

"Master!" Marinette barged in the massage shop, eyes large with worry, frantically hoping to get in and get back to Chat Noir as quickly as possible. "We're facing an akuma that's extremely violent, with the desire to kill. We need the Snake!"

Wordlessly, Master Fu got the Snake Miraculous from the Miracle Box. "Here. Please be careful, Marinette."

Marinette gave Master Fu an affectionate squeeze of the hand and nodded, running out as quickly as she came..

Once out of the shop, she ducked into an alleyway and headed straight for the Couffaine's houseboat.

"_Please be home, please be home, please be home_," she repeated to herself aloud. Then she let out a small sigh of relief. Her luck was holding, Luka was playing his guitar on deck.

"Luka!" she exclaimed as she got closer, completely out of breath. "Viperion's needed. It's extremely urgent and life-threatening, Chat Noir's also in danger."

He had put his guitar down and got to his feet the moment he caught sight of her. "No time to waste, then," he said, holding his hand out for the Miraculous. "Don't worry, I'll give it back once we're done."

She trusted him. She trusted Luka with everything, everything except her identity, that is. And it wasn't even him she didn't trust, but she didn't trust that Hawk Moth wouldn't manage to find out her identity by using or hurting him.

It took one minute longer for him to transform and the two to make it to the scene where the akuma, Asphyxiator, was attacking.

Chat Noir was trying to outrun and escape him, but being able to levitate gave him an advantage.  
In Chat Noir's peripheral vision, he saw red. For a split second, he slowed down to make sure it was really her he was seeing. Suddenly, without warning, before Ladybug could even move or scream out to him, Asphyxiator's strange arm stretched out to close the gap between them and clutched his large hand around Chat Noir's mouth and nose. He began squirming violently, desperately.

"NO!" Ladybug screamed shrilly, throwing her yo-yo towards the akuma to yank him away from suffocating her partner. Only, before her yo-yo even reached the villain, Chat Noir crumbled to the ground.

"CHAT!" she stared in horror, her yo-yo now wrapped around Asphyxiator. All she could do was watch, hoping he'd leap back up onto his feet, a wide toothy grin on his face, and one of his jokes being said so casually as a comeback to the akuma. But he didn't. And she knew he wouldn't again.

It was as if in that moment, part of her soul vanished with him. Like her life was lost, without purpose. She didn't bother with the akuma anymore, her entire focus was on Chat now. Everything flashed before her eyes. She saw her memories of him mixed in with images she didn't even know were there. Not memories, but visions of him in dreams she had, or daydreams of him she would always shut down because they were only supposed to be partners and friends. These pictures of him she had locked away in her mind, and now, they could never be turned into reality.

As she was about to rush to his side, a steady stream of tears flooding down her face, a voice snapped her away from the deep, dark abyss her mind was now plunging into.

"Second chance!" The voice shouted angrily.

The last thing Luka registered before being thrown back in time was a lost and doleful looking Ladybug, who turned to him with the faint brightness of hope alive in her beautiful, soaked eyes.

Viperion blinked. He was back on the houseboat, just before they left to meet up with Chat. Ladybug had no idea about the event that sent him back in time.  
"Wait! We can't leave yet, I have to call Chat Noir," Viperion exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" Ladybug blinked.

He didn't pay attention after that, time was short. He had a phone built into his lyre, much like the other heroes and their weapons. And he was going to use it to his advantage.

"Chat, listen to me. In a minute, Asphyxiator will get his hands on you. Try to get as far away from him as you can. Now. Run south, and we'll meet up with you."

"Got it," Chat replied.

"This way!" Viperion guided Ladybug slightly off course.

"But Chat is -"

"He's not there. I've already had to use Second went horribly wrong as soon as we arrived. That also means I can't use my power again, so we have to be extremely careful this time around."

Ladybug wanted to ask, but with the time crunch and the tone of his voice, she thought it best to keep her curiosity to herself.

"We have to get to Chat's side as quickly as possible. No stopping," he rushed out.

Ladybug managed to arrive first, just a bit ahead of Viperion. Asphyxiator was just catching up to Chat Noir, so she was right on time.

"M'Lady," he breathed, his face slightly contorted with pain. But he was happy. Ladybug was back by his side again.

"I'm the one who should be relieved. It sounds like…" she almost choked on the next words. She didn't finish her sentence, she couldn't bear the thought of something having happened to him.. "I'm just happy we got here in time."

Viperion landed on the other side of Chat Noir. "Good to see you," he greeted, then turned his attention onto Asphyxiator.

"Well well well, the three superheroes I've always been most eager to meet," Asphyxiator's already unusually wide mouth grew bigger as he smiled. "But the one I've been most eager to see…" he turned to Ladybug, then a sudden sickening grin flared on his face with the flash of his eyes. Asphyxiator's arm suddenly reached out to her, his hand clamped over her mouth and nose as she struggled to get free. Her yo-yo fell limp at her side. Chat Noir frantically extended his baton to the akuma as he charged him, and Viperion tried to move his arm by force, but the akuma's grasp on her didn't budge.

The sound of something crumpling to the ground made Chat Noir stop in his tracks. He couldn't turn around as his heart stopped in his chest. Viperion's cries for her to wake up confirmed his worst fear, and he felt his stomach plunge, as if he was on a rollercoaster.

"So what, Hawk Moth? You're going to get what you want, I have no use for such things. Nobody could defeat them, and I managed it without much effort. Problem solved." Then the butterfly pattern over his face disappeared. "I'll be kind, just this once, and let you two have a moment while I go take care of some personal business," excitement swam around in his orange eyes. He chuckled menacingly as he hovered away.

"No, no, no, no, not Ladybug," Viperion shook his head, unable to grasp what had happened. "I already used my Second Chance! I can't...I can't save you. I'm so sorry," he choked, hanging his head above Ladybug's body. Chat Noir remained frozen.

"Chat, we - we have to…."

He knew. He knew he was going to have to turn around, he was going to have to face this. He was going to have to protect Ladybug's Miraculous. He was going to have to see her lifeless body, lifeless face….

Chat Noir clenched his jaw and fists as he slowly turned around. The second he laid eyes on her lying there, now in Viperion's arms, he let out a choked sob that sounded like some sort of dying animal. His legs dragged the couple of feet that distanced himself from her, then fell to his knees, sobs rocking his body.

"Why Ladybug? It should've been _me_ instead! Not you! I should've been the one to …to..."

Viperion rested his hand on Chat Noir's shoulder, hoping to provide him some comfort as he continued to let out his anguish.

A sudden pink flash coming from Ladybug caught their attention, hope alive again, that by some miracle, Ladybug would be alright.

Instead, Marinette was lying in Viperion's arms, still utterly lifeless.

"No…" the little Kwami squeaked. "No, Marinette, no!"

"Marinette…?" The boys said together.

"This can't be real. This isn't real, right?" Chat Noir's eyes grew wide, almost manic. "There's no way, there's no way Marinette's gone. She can't be..." he reached out and took her hand delicately. But she didn't react, she didn't move her hand away or say some witty comment. Her bluebell eyes were never going to be seen again. And the thought was even harder to bear now, because she was both his best friend, the kind girl from school that everyone loved, and the love of his life - and he had no idea this entire time just how special his Lady truly was.

Viperion hugged her tightly, tears streamed down his face and he tried to wipe them away just as quickly as they fell. "You trusted me to help you, you trusted me with your safety and I let you down," he sniffed. "I didn't deserve my Miraculous, and I especially didn't deserve you. You shouldn't have trusted me…." he began sobbing, too.

"Chat Noir…?" the red Kwami spoke. "I - I'm sorry to have to ask this of you, but you have to take her earrings, you have to keep them safe."

"But they're Marinette's!" he bellowed much too loudly. "I can't take them!"

"We have to," Viperion's voice cracked. He cleared his throat as if it'd help, but no amount of it would get rid of the lump he felt now. "If we don't, Hawk Moth will end up with them. She would want to make sure they're safe."

Chat hesitated, then slowly reached for her ears. The closer he got to them, the more they shook. About an inch from her, he pulled his hand back in, as quickly as if he'd just touched something hot. "I just can't do it," he admitted. "I can't…"

Viperion's face fell, but he understood.

"Viperion will have to do it. Can we trust you to keep them safe?" Tikki asked, her eyes filled with sadness. "I know Marinette's always trusted you, but I have to ask."

"Always," he answered, his voice flooded with guilt and pain.

Chat Noir felt a sudden desire creep into his heart. There was something he felt he must know before the opportunity was gone forever. "Wait! Before you take the earrings and Tikki goes into them… I have to know. What did she think about me? Did she trust me? As you know… not Chat Noir?"

Tikki gave him a melancholy smile and floated up to his head. "She trusted you, both sides of you, so very much. She loved both dearly, too, and she really struggled over that. You were her best friend. Ultimately, she loved you so much, she just wanted you to be happy above all else."

Chat Noir's eyes filled with tears again as he looked down again at the girl he loved. How was he going to do this? How could he move on from this? How could he continue to be Chat Noir without her?

Tikki surprised him and gave him a Kwami hug, cuddling his face gently. They both loved her dearly, and neither would be the same after this loss. But this was the only moment together they would likely ever get. "Alright Viperion, you may take them now. Goodbye Chat Noir," she gave a sad little wave, tears falling from her big blue eyes that remained locked on him. The moment the earrings were removed from Marinette's ears, Tikki had disappeared. Viperion unzipped a pocket in his suit and put them safely inside.

"We have to end this before he murders anyone else," Viperion got to his feet, eyes burning with fierce determination. "And for her."

Chat Noir could feel himself didn't seem to really matter anymore. He started asking himself, what all of this was even for? What good did it do for her to be Ladybug, for him to be Chat Noir, if this is where it ends? Hadn't he already lost enough? She didn't deserve this. She was the very last person on this planet to deserve this. So _why_? _Why her_?

"Watch out!" he heard Viperion shout, it sounded muffled, like was down the street, but was in reality only a few feet away.

Chat Noir's instincts kicked in and he dodged just in time. His side was screaming now, along with his heart and head. Everything was screaming. Even someone in the distance was screaming…

"Chat, no, snap out of it!" he could make the voice out. It was familiar and very concerned. But the pain was just too much…

Then his air supply was suddenly cut off, and his body reacted, gasping and thrashing around. He was more alert as his brain became aware of what was going on. He tried to shrink himself enough to slip out from the arm that was wrapped around him. But they couldn't save Ladybug, and he knew Viperion wouldn't be able to save him, either.

Viperion for the second time that day, watched the hero fall to the ground, never to move again.

Under his watch, with him as their chosen help, he failed them in the ultimate way. Ladybug and Chat Noir were no more, and he would have to face that.

A green light flashed, much like with Marinette. He didn't hold out hope this time, and was horrified to see who was now lying on the ground.

"Adrien?" he gasped. His eyes darted from him to Marinette, who was still lying in the street, and then back to Adrien again.

His mind spun as he took in this new information. The famous Ladybug and Chat Noir, Paris's beloved superheroes, most beloved couple… were his friend Adrien and the girl he loved. He knew how Marinette felt about Adrien, and despite Ladybug's denial of her feelings for Chat Noir, it was pretty obvious after being around both couples that she had feelings for him, too. And it all made sense, why Marinette could never accept him as anything more than a friend. She was always meant for Adrien, no matter who he may appear to be, and he was always meant for her. They were destined to die together, even, one not living much longer than the other. His friends never would have a chance at happiness together, and he felt he was to blame.

"You can't take my powers!" Aspyxiator bellowed, startling Viperion. "I don't care who he was to you!"

While the akuma was arguing with Hawk Moth, a whispered voice called to him.

"You in the blue! Yeah, over here. You have to take the ring. Quickly!" Plagg urged. "Then you have to get out of here, got it?"

He looked behind him at akuma. "But what about him?"

Plagg looked sad. "I have a feeling that Hawk Moth will take care of that despicable human being's powers now without you. They didn't die just for the Miraculous to be given to Hawk Moth. So you have to go!"

Viperion set his sights on the silver ring on Adrien's hand. He swallowed, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the idea of having to remove such precious jewelry from him as well. But he had to do what he had to do. He slipped the silver ring off and noticed the Cat Kwami was no longer around.

Once the ring was safe, nestled beside the earrings in his pocket, he took one last glance at his friends. Seeing them lying there like that was just too much to bear. His eyes began to tear up again as he whispered a choked up apology and goodbye.

Then he burst into a run. He ran harder and faster than he ever had before. He didn't stop, he didn't look back, not even a glance. He didn't know where he was going, either. Viperion found that the motion cleared his head a little more to think.

The sound of his Miraculous beeping insanely in warning caught his attention, the previous beeps never heard by him. He slowed to a jog as he pulled out the Miraculous he was keeping safe. When his transformation ended, Sass appeared next to him.

"You did what you had to do, Luka," he told him, trying to assure him. "There wasn't anything else you could've done this time."

"There had to have been! I'm the one that's supposed to fix mistakes. Now both Ladybug and Chat Noir are - are - are DEAD," he yelled, "and I couldn't do anything but stand by and watch!"

He felt disgusted with himself. He was angry, too. How could Hawk Moth release such a villain out into the world? Why was Hawk Moth torturing the citizens of Paris like this? All his pain and rage built up, threatening to completely overflow.

Then it clicked for him: he was going to do whatever it took to bring Hawk Moth down, and bring justice to his fallen friends.

"Things may not be how they appear, young one," Sass hissed gently. "You'll see."

Luka blinked. These words didn't match the situation, or how he was feeling. "May not be… how they appear? They're gone, I don't understand what you mean."

"Maybe I can clear it up for you, Viperion," a hoarse but kind voice came from behind him.

Luka's head twisted back so fast, he hurt a muscle in his neck.  
He was on the rooftops of Paris, how was he met by someone else here? And an old man, no less?

"I am Master Fu, guardian of the Miraculous," he introduced himself. "And Sass is right. Things may not be as they seem. You can't lose hope, Luka."

Luka had gone through too much today to understand anything. They were gone, too much time had passed to use his Miraculous again to fix it. Yet there was hope? "...What?" he asked stupidly, rubbing his sore neck.

"I will not tell you now, as Sass and I are still uncertain how it works and if it will work, but please, hold on to the Snake Miraculous. It for certain will not work if you return it to me now."

"But...but I…"

"Luka. Ladybug, or well, Marinette trusted you with this Miraculous. You matter a great deal to her, and she knows what you're capable of. Today was not your fault, it was Hawk Moth's. He let an already mad man have access to magic that caused destruction, and took numerous lives. I know you can make this right."

"But how? My Miraculous only allows me to go back seconds, not minutes, or days. The more time that goes by…"

"You will find out tomorrow. I'm afraid the rest of the day will be hard for you. I'm trusting you to keep the Cat and Bug Miraculouses safe. Now, you should go home and be with your friends and family. I'm sure news has leaked out by now, and they're going to be trying to reach you."

His phone began to ring.

Luka glanced up at the old man, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Master Fu gave him a nod with a gleam in his eye and started to walk away with his hands behind his back.

"Hello?" Luka answered the phone. He tried to prepare himself for the wave of panic and hysteria he was going to be facing for the rest of the day.

"Have you seen the news?" his sister's voice was thick from crying, and an octave higher than normal. "About Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"I… I did," he confirmed.

"They were revealed as Marinette and Adrien, Luka. And now they're -"

"I know."

"Are you okay?"

Luka most certainly was not okay. The girl he loved was now dead. His friend was dead, too. Because he wasn't good enough to protect them.

"Luka?" Juleka asked.

"Ah, sorry. I'm uh, I'm about to head home. I'll talk to you then," he got out before he hung up. He was about a 10 minute walk away… 10 minutes to try to get himself together. He was going to take Master Fu's advice and prepare for what the night would bring.

The city was descending into chaos. Every news channel all throughout the night was showing nothing but stories about Ladybug and Chat Noir's death. Their identities had been exposed to the world. Mutual friends of theirs had called Luka about them. He heard from Ivan that Alya refused to leave her room and the only person that was even allowed in by her was Nino, as he was the only one that could really understand her pain. Ivan also informed him that they were feeling extremely guilty, because they should've known who their best friends really were and done something to help. Luka understood how they felt, only they weren't to be blamed at all, they weren't in a position to be able to do something like he was. Their pain and guilt added onto the heaviness in his heart.

The news showed clips of Marinette's grieving parents at the bakery. They showed clips outside the Agreste mansion, but were unable to get a comment from Gabriel Agreste or any of his staff. They aired pieces about how Marinette and Adrien were friends at school, in the same class. There was speculation if they knew about each other's identities and were simply lying to the public. Some argued against it, because Ladybug had mentioned on many occasions publicly about their identities being a secret, even from each other. Her dedication to keeping the secret was widely known. But others thought that not entertaining the idea of them knowing each others secret in such circumstances to be ridiculous.

People were abuzz online, sending angry messages to the news stations and blogs that made light of their deaths, calling them disgusting for talking about unimportant or trivial information that's related to them at such a mournful time.

One sleazy news station even had the nerve to reach out to Lila Rossi for an interview, and she had much to say that reflected horribly on both Ladybug and Marinette, but most people wrote off as drivel. She claimed that Marinette was a school bully who threatened her if she ever got close to Adrien, and that they were secretly in a relationship in order to keep her safe from Marinette's jealous wrath.

Thousands of long comments on the Ladyblog were being posted, dozens coming in every minute, written in their honor as people posted their stories of their interactions with both the superheroes and the civilians about how much they love, respect, and will miss them dearly.

But Luka couldn't take hearing their names and seeing their faces anymore. He shut off all devices that connected him to the world outside his houseboat and climbed into bed. The entire day felt like one giant nightmare that he had to wake up from, because it just couldn't be real. Ladybug and Chat Noir no longer existing? There was just no way. It was absurd!

It was only seeing the bracelet strapped around his wrist and the little snake lying next to him that gave him his power, that set off an uncomfortable wave of pain that reminded him that this was all very real.

All Luka wished for as his heavy and puffy eyelids began to close, was to be able to go back and prevent this day from ever happening, so he could see Marinette's beautiful smile shining back at him again.


End file.
